E3 2014: Hands-On With Xbox One's Fable Legends

Fable Legends is set to take the series in a brand new direction, ditching the single-player focus and instead teaming up four would-be heroes with a devious villain in order to tell a brand new tale of cooperation.

In previous Fable games, players usually underwent a solo journey, questing around the countryside all by your lonesome, or perhaps with a poochy companion, in order to make your name known throughout the land. Whether or not said name was uttered with reverence or fear was dependent on how you chose to play the game, with a morality system helping shape the player and world that evolved throughout the campaign.

While players can certainly tackle Fable Legends by their onesies, my hands-on time with the game at E3 2014 made it clear that a four-player party is the way to roll this time around. For our demo, a team of four good guys, including yours truly, took on a level crafted by a sole villain. Our merry band of heroes got used to the gameís controls while the villain took some time to fine-tune their level.

While the good guys see the game from your typical third-person view, the villain gets a sort of birdís eye view of the playing field, able to move the camera about and see exactly whatís going on at all times. The villain can do some fine-tuning of their level before the heroes dive in, or they can spend as much time as they want crafting a devious layout, save it as a template, then simply load it up when itís time to smash the intruding do-gooders.

Being a hero, though, my job was simple: Kill the bad guys. Fable Legends uses a class-based system and, at launch, the developers hope to have at least 12 characters ready to roll. Only four were available during the demo, including your basic tank, soldier, archer and magic user. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, unique abilities and motivations for going on this grand adventure.

The story of Fable Legends is set hundreds of years in the past, ditching the more modern setting of Fable 3 to return to a time when legends were being formed. Players will begin their journey in Bright Lodge, the hub city where they will be able to take on side quests, interact with NPS, change their equipment, get new gear, etc.